Monday, September 10, 2007

Doily 085/18 (With a little help from my friends)

OK Opal. You wanted to see the doily, you get the doily!Yeah. I cast-on another doily since you all helped me out with those instructions I could not figure out. How could I resist? LOL!I have to say I think that doily's are my "socks". Small projects, portable, fun to knit, quickly done. I never could get into the whole sock thing but doily's, I think this has real potential. Yes, I'm still knitting on Lyra (I'm up to row 145 of 180 rows) and yes, I'm still working on the "brain death" edging of Boundary Waters (rounding the third corner and heading towards home stretch). And no, I'm not "feeling the love" from the WRS yet. I think Lyra and Boundary Waters will end up done at the same time so I can just have a "blocking fest" using the shawl frame. So this little 88 row doily (I'm on row 63) is just the ticket to keep me from a bad case of "Start-itis". I do not need to start another large project just yet. The doily is from Burda Kunststrickent / Folge 1: Alles aus Garn which I bought on E-Bay. The doily has no name that I can find in this magazine and if it says who designed it I can't find it. Of course, it's in German so maybe it is in the text somewhere. I did find Herbert Nieblings name in there but that does not mean that all of the lace in that magazine is from him. Still, that little doily sure feels like it could be one of his. Any one what to guess just what flower this is? I'm thinking "Bleeding Heart" or something like it. Short post. I have to go knit now or I will never finish anything!

I didn't get the sock thing until I made one a few months ago. Now I make lots. I don't wear socks much so I'm often seen on the streets of London offering hand knit socks to passers by. (Not quite, but not far off!)

The doily is lovely, and I think it could be a Niebling or 'of his school' (if indeed he had a school).

The doily's are a very short knit since there are very few rows! Perfect for those of us with menopause because you can knock off a few rows in between hot flashes! I really like that they have no practical purpose other than just the fun of knitting them and the beauty of the lace. I love the red color too though white would have been more traditional. I'm glad you are liking the looks of it!

If the doily is sweet it's the only thing about me that is! If my sister did not knit me socks all the time I guess I would have more reason to knit them. She does a great job however so I don't feel the lack. As for doilys on your feet, at least if you got your feet wet they would dry quickly! Built in Summer ventilation? Ok, so no doilys on the feet :-(

I imagine that designers of lace at that time may have had others who emulated their styles or perhaps even assistants who helped designed. Sort of like painters and other artists? Who knows. All I know is that this doily has the background mesh and extream increases and decreases that feel just like knitting Lyra. If it's not a Niebling then it's a darned good clone! I actually wish I liked knitting socks more but they just don't do it for me. I do, however, love looking at the socks everyone else makes! Vicarious thrill and all that!

I think the sock patterns are OK, it's my big fat feet and overly large calves that are the "problem" with most socks. I am using Flora 50 in red with US 000 circular needles for the body and did the center cast-on with US 0000 double points. I like a tight center ring if I can get one. I think this would be nicer in a larger crochet/tatting cotton such as Cebelia so it would have more presence. I do hope it is a Niebling but even if it is not, it's a beauty! I'm glad you are liking the looks of it. I hope it blocks out nicely.

Thank you! I love the color of this cotton as well. I get rather tired of plain white sometimes. These are lots of fun to knit and I'm looking a some others that might make nice shawls. Maybe some of the "tablecloths" but in yarn? But not until I finish other projects first!

As my niece Jessie would say "Morbid is Good!" Since I envy ALL of your knitting I guess I can stand for you to have a little bit of doily envy! Beware. If once you are tempted to knit one yourself, they are highly addictive! Bwa ha ha!

The plant is actually called Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicentra_spectabilis. It is quite beautiful in person. I once had one, of course it died like all my other favorite plants do.

Thank you for the information. I just sort of think the doily looks a little bit like this plant though I could just be one of those "fantasy" flowers that don't really exsist. I also am death to plants. I've even killed cactus so I really feel for you. Thanks for dropping by the blog!

Yeah, I know it's a stretch, but these doilys are one of the few very portable things I'm interested in knitting so they are now my "in lieu of socks" project to take along when I'm out at someone elses house. Gotta get my laughs where I can and I appreciate everyone's acceptance of my most recent abberation!

Thank you very much! I enjoy knitting lace but I'm not perfect with it. Sometimes I just can't fix an error and I leave it rather than rip back. I'm just not that demanding with it. I can live with some mistakes while I continue to learn. If you want to see some really spectacular knitting, you might look at some of the "Kindred Spirits" over on the side bar of this blog. There are so many truly great knitters on that list that you will have a heart attack! LOL(You all know who you are!) Enjoy and thank you for looking in on my blog!

LaceFreak -- I just read your blog from the beginning and I love it! I wish I could do the lace as well as you do. I have done a couple lace things in the past but and I going to start a shawl out of the Meg Swansen Gathering of Lace. You are my inspiration. Keep it up and I can't wait to hear more from you. I am a guy knitter in Arkansas of all places.

Wow! You have some kind of stamina to read that far back. I'm glad you enjoy this blog and if it gives you inspiration so much the better! Remember. I once was as you are today in terms of knitting lace. It's all a matter of just knitting some and enjoying it. It takes you where you were meant to go even if that happens to be purgatory LOL. As for Gathering of Lace, I love that book and I hope you have checked for the "corrections" to it before you start your project. I did not and screwed up my sampler stole at first so go look up those corrections! Thank you for your lovely comment and I'd love to be able to see some of your lace if you ever get the chance to post/send a picture. It takes guts to be a guy knitting in Arkansas I bet! Good Luck!

Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate them but I always think that anyone with the guts to knit lace at all is a "real" lace knitter including yourself since I admire your knitting so much. Nice to hear from you! Hope all is well.